Uniquely Penang Street Art

Penang - The street art scene around Georgetown has evolved to a uniquely tourist attraction.

Children on a bike

Boy taking a peak

Donny taking a peak too

Penang Chew Jetty - UNESCO Heritage Site

Penang - This Chew Jetty is an UNESCO Heritage site with its habitat of traditional Penang Chinese family living above the waters for centuries.   It's one of the best well kept and structurally safe jetty to visit.   This is a must sit for many tourist which always cause big headache and noise to residents living there.

Entrance to Chew Jetty

homes on stilts

It is amazing with all the rickety and movement of the waves, the planks and houses are still holding up.  This Jetty started once as a wooden passageway and slowly evolved into a cluster of houses perch above the sea shores by stilts.  This UNESCO site is uniquely frozen in a time zone with no regard to the urban development that is taking place around Penang.

Beautiful scenery

Chocolate & Coffee Museum

Penang - The conference incentive tour guide brought us to Penang's Chocolate & Coffee Museum located @ 22 Leith Street.   The brief tour was informative but hardly anything worth the purchase.

Original Conching Machine

A conche is a surface scraping mixer and agitator that evenly distributes cocoa butter within chocolate, and may act as a 'polisher' of the particles. It also promotes flavor development through frictional heat, release of volatiles and acids, and oxidation.

Pinang Peranakan Mansion

Penang - The visit to the Pinang (Malay word for Penang) Peranakan Mansion brings back fond memories of old as both sides of my family are Peranakan - 3 generations on both sides.   My mum and aunties still has their sarong kabaya, the beaded shoes, the most importantly the Peranakan cuisine.

This is the home of a rich Baba built about a 100 years ago with his opulent lifestyle evident at every corner of this house.

Entrance to the Peranakan Mansion

Rich Peranakan dinning table

Expensive Peranakan porcelain

Traditional child seat

WildPackets 2015 Partners Conference in Singapore – Business, Friendship and Great Memories

 Singapore - The WildPackets 2015 Partners Conference in Singapore, was much more than just another business conference. It was a wonderful gathering of partners, colleagues and friends, bringing together more than 30 participants from across the region for two memorable days of learning, networking and, of course, having plenty of fun along the way.

The conference was made even more special by the presence of our CEO, Tim McCreery, and his wife, who joined us as our guests of honour. Their presence added a very personal touch to the occasion and made the event feel like a true WildPackets family gathering.

We began the conference with a warm welcome ceremony, giving everyone an opportunity to meet one another, reconnect with familiar faces and get to know new partners. There was a great sense of excitement and camaraderie in the room.

After the welcome, we moved into the more serious business of the conference. The sessions provided an excellent platform for sharing WildPackets' vision, discussing our technology and solutions, and exchanging ideas on the opportunities and challenges facing our partners. It was a valuable time for everyone to learn, share experiences and strengthen relationships.

But as the saying goes, all work and no play makes for a dull conference! We then took our partners on a Singapore city tour, giving our overseas guests an opportunity to experience some of the sights and character of Singapore. It was a wonderful change of pace after two days of business discussions.

That evening, we put aside the presentations and business discussions and headed for a bowling competition. The competitive spirit quickly came alive! Partners who had spent the day discussing technology and business strategies were now focused on strikes, spares and trying to beat one another's scores.

There was plenty of laughter, friendly teasing and cheering from the sidelines. It was a great way to relax after a full day of meetings and, more importantly, gave everyone an opportunity to connect on a much more personal level.

We gathered for a award ceremony dinner, continuing the evening with good food, conversations and lots of laughter. These informal moments often become the memories we remember most from conferences.

The day ended with a BBQ dinner at the hotel, where everyone came together one last time. Good food, drinks, conversations and laughter brought the conference to a memorable close.

Others are remembered for the people, the laughter and the friendships created.

Cheonjaeyeon Falls

Jeju - This waterfall is not to be confused with the Cheonjiyeon waterfall (UNESCO), is a three-tier waterfall cold water flows out of the ceiling of a cave to make this waterfall.

Funny signature @ waterfall

First waterfall

There will only be waterfall here if there is heavy rain..

flowing water to the 2nd waterfall

2nd Waterfall

Seonimgyo Bridge

The Seonimgyo Bridge is an arch bridge that has 7 nymphs carved on the side and it connects Cheonjeyeon with the Jungmum Tourist Complex.

Donny on the Arch bridge

Ravine down below the bridge

Young Jin the guide extraordinaire

3rd waterfall

clear directional signs

It was a hike up and down to see the 3 waterfalls.  The weather was cool and fine making the hike bearable and fun.

Jeongbang Waterfalls

Seogwipo, Jeju -  This was our next wonder in Jeju - Jeongbang waterfalls. Jeongbang Falls is only water fall in Asia that falls directly into the ocean. On the wall of the water fall, there is an inscription written “Seobulgwacha”, referring to Seobul passing by this place. Seobul was a servant of the Chinese Emperor Qin Shi Huang (BC 259~210) who was ordered by the Emperor to find the substance that would make him immortal. Seogwipo is also said to have gotten its name to mean Seobul headed back west.

We had a walk a short distance down to the waterfall.  Along the path there were incravings depicting the travel of Seobul.

Ronny, Edward, Donny and Lesley

My friends from the conference posing in the nice cool weather of Jeju.   The weather in Jeju has warmed up through the days moving towards Summer.

Jeongbang waterfalls

The thundering sound of the Jeongbang waterfall hitting the ocean water.   From a distance, tiny droplets of splashing water can be felt on my face as the waterfall pours over the high cliff.

Edward figuring out where to step on

There were many boulders and stepping on those to get closer to the waterfall can be treacherous, so caution on where you step on.  I think it can be very dangerous during heavy rain and the winter when the boulders are wet and slippery.

Jeju famous women divers

Jeju - The women divers of Jeju are also called Haenyeo also affectionately called The Mermaids of Jeju.   Unlike fishermen who go out in boats or use a rod or line, these women dive in the ocean without any special tools to gather clams, abalone, or seaweed.

And they don’t go as fully equipped as scuba divers. All they need is a float to mark their location when they surface, a weeding hoe to dig up abalone and other shellfish that cling to the rocks, and a net to hold their catch. Wearing a lead-weighted vest and goggles, they plunge into the 20-meter depths where they stay underwater holding their breath for two or three minutes.

It's 3pm and women diver show is starting, I have to descend the stairs to the shore to watch this show.

4 women divers

A crowd had already gathered and the 4 women divers were singing Korean folks songs before they make their dive.

The diver put on the lead around her waist

walking towards the sea

Donny admiring the beautiful scenary

Seongeup Folk Village @ Jeju

Jeju - This was the partners conference tour and the first stop of this educational trip.   I had arranged for an English tour guide and she is humorous and entertain the delegates well.  

Located at the foot of Halla mountain, the culture of this small village was pass down from generation to generation.   I can see many grandfather statues (Harubang) around this pristine landscape.  

Harubang in the background

Entrance to the folk village

Residential homes 

Anh amongst the canola plants

Canola oil comes from the crushed seeds of the canola plant. Each canola plant grows from 3 to 6 feet (1 m -2 m) tall and produces beautiful yellow flowers. As the plant matures, pods form that are similar in shape to pea pods, but about 1/5th the size. Each pod contains about twenty tiny round black or brownish-yellow seeds.

Once harvested, canola seeds are taken to a facility where they are crushed to extract the oil contained within the seed. This oil is then further refined and bottled as canola oil.

Beautiful canola flowers

Another ancient home